E PISTLE E VI.

To Mr. MURRAY.

NOT to admire, is all the Art I know,

To make men happy, and to keep them fo." (Plain Truth, dear MURRAY, needs no flow'rs of fpeech,

So take it in the very words of Creech.)

This Vault of Air, this congregated Ball, Self-center'd Sun, and Stars that rise and fall, There are, my Friend! whofe philofophic eyes Look thro', and truft the Ruler with his skies, To him commit the hour, the day, the year, And view this dreadful All without a fear.

с

: 10

d

Admire we then, what Earth's low entrails hold,
Arabian fhores, or Indian feas infold;
All the mad trade of Fools and Slaves for Gold?

}

NOTES.

VER. 10. And view this dreadful All without a fear.] He has added this idea to his text; and it greatly heightens the dignity of the whole thought. He gives it the appellation of a dreadful Al, because the immenfity of God's creation, which modern philofophy has fo infinitely enlarged, is apt to affect narrow minds, who measure the divine comprehenfion by their own, with dreadful suspicions of man's being overlooked in this dark and narrower corner of existence, by a Governor occupied and bufied with the fum of things.

5

Ludicra, quid, plaufus, et amici dona Quiritis?

Quo fpectanda modo, quo fenfu credis et øre?

g

h Qui timet his adverfa, fere miratur eodem Quo cupiens pacto: pavor eft utrobique moleftus: Improvifa fimul species exterret utrumque :

Gaudeat, an doleat; cupiat, metuatne; quid ad rem,

Si, quidquid videt melius pejufve fua spe,
Defixis oculis, animoque et corpore torpet?

* Infani fapiens nomen ferat, aequus iniqui; Ultra quam fatis eft, virtutem fi petat ipfam..

! I nunc, argentum et marmor vetus, aeraque

m

et artes

n

Sufpice: cum gemmis " Tyrios mirare colores:

NOTES.

VER. 21. In either cafe, believe me, we admire ;] i. e. Thefe objects, in either cafe, affect us, as objects unknown affect the mind, and confequently betray us into falle judgments.

VER. 22. Whether we joy or grieve, the fame the curse, Surprie'd at better, or furpriz d at worfe.] 1 he elegance of this is fuperior to the Original. The curfe is the fame

Or f Popularity? or Stars and Strings?
The Mob's applauses, or the gifts of Kings?
Say with what eyes we ought at Courts to gaze,
And pay the Great our homage of Amaze ?

h

i

If weak the pleasure that from these can spring, The fear to want them is as weak a thing: Whether we dread, or whether we defire, In either cafe, believe me, we admire; Whether we joy or grieve, the same the curse, Surpriz'd at better, or furpriz'd at worse. Thus good or bad, to one extreme betray Th' unbalanc'd Mind, and snatch the Man away; For Virtue's felf may too much zeal be had; The worst of Madmen is a Saint run mad.

1 Go then, and if you can, admire the state
Of beaming diamonds, and reflected plate;
Procure a TASTE to double the furprize,
And gaze on "Parian Charms with learned eyes:
Be ftruck with bright " Brocade, or Tyrian Dye,
Our Birth-day Nobles' fplendid Livery.

n

15

20

25

30

NOTES.

(fays he) whether we joy or grieve. Why fo? Because, in either cafe, the man is furprized, hurried off, and led away captive.

(The good or bad to one extreme betray

Th' unbalanc'd Mind, and fnatch the Man away.) This happy advantage, in the imitation, arifes from the ambiguity of the word furprize.

Mutus et (indignum; quod fit pejoribus ortus)

Hic tibi fit potius, quam tu mirabilis illi.

Quicquid fub terra eft, in apricum proferet aetas;

Defodiet, condétque nitentia. cum bene notum

t

Porticus Agrippae, et via te conspexerit Appi;

V

Ire tamen reftat, Nuina quo devenit et Ancus.

* Si latus aut renes morbo tentantur acuto,

35

If not fo pleas'd, at Council-board rejoice,
To fee their judgments hang upon thy Voice;
From P morn to night, at Senate, Rolls, and Hall,
Plead much, read more, dine late, or not at all.
But wherefore all this labour, all this ftrife?
For a Fame, for Riches, for a noble Wife?

Shall One whom Nature, Learning, Birth, con

41

fpir'd

To form, not to admire but be admir'd,
Sigh, while his Chloe blind to Wit and Worth
Weds the rich Dulness of some Son of earth?
Yet Time ennobles, or degrades each Line;
It brighten'd CRAGGS's, and may darken thine:
And what is Fame? the Meaneft have their day,
The Greatest can but blaze, and pass away.
Grac'd as thou art, with all the Pow'r of Words,
So known, so honour'd, at the House of Lords;
Confpicuous Scene! another yet is nigh,
(More filent far) where Kings and Poets lie;
Where MURRAY (long enough his Country's pride)
Shall be no more than TULLY, or than HYDE!

w Rack'd with Sciatics, martyr'd with the Stone, Will any mortal let himself alone?

55

See Ward by batter'd Beaus invited over,

And defp'rate Mifery lays hold on Dover.
The cafe is easier in the Mind's disease;
There all Men may be cur'd, whene'er they please.

45

50